Quad issues limited Wood's Clark at state meet

LEESBURG — On Oct. 5 at the Judges Classic at Kernstown Battlefield, James Wood High School senior Eli Clark charged down the hill with no one else in the same stratosphere.

With an eye toward winning a state title, Clark made an emphatic statement in beating the Tafe brothers from Loudoun County for the second time that day. Joe, a senior, and Michael, a sophomore, took second and third, respectively, with Joe 13.5 seconds behind and Michael 21.94 seconds back.

Clark’s season hasn’t gone the way he wanted to since that day. He gave a strong effort to push for a state title on Saturday, but unfortunately for Clark, it was Michael Tafe that ultimately captured state gold at Oatlands in Leesburg.

Clark was up front with Tafe and the other leaders more than halfway through the race, but issues with his quad muscles resulted in him falling back. Clark — who captured a state medal as a sophomore in 2022 by taking 11th — wound up placing 39th in 17 minutes and 30 seconds.

Michael Tafe won the race by six seconds in 15:54. In comparison, Clark recorded a season-best time of 16:06 at the Oatlands Invitational on the same course on Sept. 21, six seconds faster than Michael Tafe. Clark’s times were also slower than what he ran as a sophomore (16:47) and junior (17:11) at the state meet in Oatlands.

“I felt OK [early on],” said Clark of Saturday’s race. “I just died on the uphill in the woods [past the 1.5-mile mark]. I could feel I was straining a little bit, but I was like, ‘OK, this is something I can handle.’ But I just got to that point where my quads weren’t working the same.”

After a disappointing performance at Millbrook’s Third Battle Invitational on Oct. 19, Clark wasn’t sure why he had struggled for two straight meets. Though he wanted to run faster, Clark was hopeful after winning the Northwestern District meet n 16:07.2 at the same location on Oct. 29 that he had turned a corner. He took 10th at the Region 4D meet before Saturday’s performance.

Clark said he was wondering if it was his mental state of mind holding him back heading into this weekend, but he no longer thinks that’s the case.

“[Today] is disappointing and relieving at the same time,” Clark said. “I know it’s not mental [which is good]. I genuinely don’t think I could have pushed that part of the race harder. But at the same time, it sucks, because I couldn’t do it [as well as I wanted].”

Based on how Clark performed earlier this season, he knows he has it in him to do well.

“I think the first half [of the season] was really good,” Clark said. “I don’t know how my season went to crap, but I don’t plan on letting it happen again. I had the win at districts, but it was a still slow time in comparison to Oatlands. We still don’t really know what happened, but we’re just going to get back to it [for track season].”

James Wood coach Matthew Lofton figures Clark might need further examination medically to get an answer for what happened to him in the second half of the season, because a lot of things pointed to a special postseason for Clark.

“His training looks good,” Lofton said. “It’s frustrating for me, it’s frustrating for him, because we just can’t figure it out. I’m pretty sure it’s not mental. He says it’s not, and I believe that, because he said he’s been there where it’s been tough mentally. I know he’s a fighter. He was locked-in today.

“But his color just looked different. Halfway through, he looked kind of pale. To me, that just feels like there’s something in his body that’s not allowing him to race where he needs to be.”

Lofton said it was still a great season for Clark based on what he did in August and September.

“We’ll use this as motivation to do well for track,” he said.

Sherando
Warriors senior Ryan Maki was also hoping for a faster time in his first appearance at the state cross country meet. He placed 47th in 17:44.

Maki said he went out too fast at the start.

“I let myself get sucked in with the crowd, the adrenaline of states,” Maki said. “I kind of paid the price there. I feel like if I would have ran smart, I would have done better.”

Sherando coach Megan Roberts felt Maki battled well despite what happened at the start.

“I think he toughed it out,” Roberts said. “This is a tough course, and he got to the hills in the second half, and he tackled it, and he kept going after it.”

Maki feels good about his season as a whole.

“I’m just proud of myself for being here,” he said. “I spent years training, six days a week, trying to get here.”

Roberts said, ‘This has been his goal for a long time, and he certainly put in the work. I’m just so proud that he’s here and he gave it his all, and had a great end to his season.”

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